Smugglers tricks revealed at Manchester Airport
10.08.08
Some of the techniques used by drug smugglers trying to get through Manchester Airport have gone on display for the first time. They include 'mules' hiding drugs in everything from teddy bears to the Koran in their bid to fool customs, the Manchester Evening News reports.
The UK Border Agency exhibition aims to show how Customs officers and sniffer dogs stay one step ahead of the criminals. As well as drug smugglers, it also highlights how the border security force tackles people-traffickers, illegal immigrants, `excise' goods - such as cigarettes and alcohol - and helps everyday passengers.
Linda Paul, assistant director of the agency, told the newspaper: ‘Smugglers can be very sophisticated, or not at all. Drugs can be sewn into suitcases, strapped to people's bodies or concealed internally, hidden in shoes, bag handles, in hollowed-out religious books, or in book spines and covers.'
‘We've even found them in children's toys. You see a child walking through clutching a teddy bear and you wouldn't think it contained drugs, but it's something we've found. And sometimes we just find blocks of drugs carried quite openly in a suitcase.’
‘We have teams of officers and dogs in the passenger terminals checking luggage and people and also in the air freight sheds. They are very experienced and they know what they're dealing with.
'Once the dogs pick up the scent - they're trained to smell for cash and animal-derived products as well - the officers will check and x-ray the goods. We're looking for illegal drugs, excise goods such as cigarettes, meat and diary product from non-EU countries, weapons and pornography.'
‘We make seizures every day but not necessarily of drugs. I'd say we make regular drugs seizures but couldn't go any further than that. Some weeks they'll be two or three, others none at all.’
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